Virtually since its inception, the United States has nurtured a dreamlike and often delirious image of itself as an essentially classless society. Given the sta

Look around you and think for a minute: Is America too crowded? For years, we have been warned about the looming danger of overpopulation: people jostling for s

Winner of the 2007 National Book Critics Circle Award for Criticism A New York Times Book Review Top Ten Book of the Year Time magazine Top Ten Nonfiction Book